Austria orders Russian's arrest in spying case

Austria has issued an arrest warrant for a Russian military officer it says recruited a colonel who allegedly spent 30 years spying for Moscow.

Police in Salzburg said European and international warrants had been issued for the officer, named by officials as 65-year-old Igor Egorovich Zaytsev.

He is suspected of having been the colonel's handler from the 1990s until the colonel's arrest last year.

The colonel allegedly provided Russia with information on Austria's army.

In a statement, Austrian police said: "The GRU handler is suspected of inducing a retired 70-year-old colonel of the Austrian army to carry out an intelligence operation to the detriment of Austria, to reveal state secrets and to deliberately give up military secrets."